Jungleman bites back

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Daniel Cates' call for a challenger to take him on in a €100k heads up showdown at next month's Prague Poker Festival has so far gone unanswered. Organisers of the contest, ThePokerFarm.com, have revealed that a relative unknown could well be throwing his hat into the ring to take on Jungleman for the World Poker Heavyweight Championship.

“The response has been what we expected, especially considering that Jungleman is generally recognized as the best when it comes to No Limit Heads Up Hold’em.” said a spokesman for PokerFarm.com. “There has been some interest, mostly from players looking for some kind of angle. We have one challenger who is relatively unknown that will be making a decision within the next 48 hours. We will be providing compensation to every champion for their title defences, but the bouts themselves must be contested on a level playing field. It’s pretty simple. Only the best need apply.”

The €200/€400 NLHE contest is set to take place in the Czech capital on 6th December with the winner taking a boxing-style Championship Belt as well as the title. The action will be streamed live at ThePokerFarm.com, complete with hole cards, on a 15-minute delay.

“A lot has been said that there is no incentive to play me. For me, competing for a world title and keeping it says more than money, and holding onto this title for a long period of time is something I'm keen to do to prove myself.” said Cates, “It’s true that I haven’t played much live and that anything can happen in four hours of poker, but to me these are just excuses for players scared to put up the money.”

One person who will definitely be playing that day, but not against Cates, is Luke Schwartz. _FullFlush_ will take part in an undercard contest with the sit down set at €50,000. The winner of the undercard match will get first crack at the World Poker Heavyweight Champion when he goes on to defend his title.

A typically bullish Schwartz said, “Bruv, I don’t care who I play. If they are stupid enough to sit down with me, I will own them. There are players whose game I respect, but I’ve never met anyone whose game is better than mine.” Asked why he’s not taking on Jungleman right now, Schwartz said, “Of course I want to play for the title but I’ve been told by the WPHC that I need to play a challenger match first. Whatever.”

This year’s edition of the unusual Groundhog Day holiday will take place in the United States this Friday and Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes are set to join in the fun with by running a commemorative poker tournament with $500 in the pot.

This Friday will see Australians from Perth to Brisbane marking the 230th anniversary of their nation’s official establishment and Intertops Poker and Juicy Stakes will be getting in on the celebrations by offering a one-off online poker tournament featuring a $500 prize pool.